This September 1951 photo shows the Bellingham public library that sat atop a rocky hill at what is now the parking lot next to Crown Plaza Executive Suites. Demolition of the library began that month, weeks after the new main library opened at its current site on Central Avenue. HERALD PHOTO

This September 1951 photo shows the Bellingham public library that sat atop a rocky hill at what is now the parking lot next to Crown Plaza Executive Suites. Demolition of the library began that month, weeks after the new main library opened at its current site on Central Avenue. HERALD PHOTO

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The Fairhaven library, now a branch of the Bellingham system, was dedicated on Dec. 20, 1904, though construction didn't wrap up until the following July.

In 1906, Bellingham became one of only two cities to win two Carnegie library grants, garnering $20,000 for a new downtown facility. That library, which opened to the public in 1908, stood atop a rocky hill next to what is now Crown Plaza Executive Suites, the former Bon Marché store.

Bellingham's main library opened at its current site near City Hall on Aug. 19, 1951.

The Carnegie library downtown was torn down two years later. Given the building's nightmarish plumbing and its 57 front steps, not everyone lamented its demise.